added jrnl entry Build

1 files changed, 107 insertions, 2 deletions

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@@ -8,6 +8,21 @@ Your power is proportional to your ability to relax.
 
 ---
 
+People need... the freedom to make things among which they can live, or give shape to them according to their own tastes, and to put them to use in caring for and about others.
+
+If you don't define success for yourself, you can never be successful. That sounds silly, but it's true. Not defining where you want to get to means you'll never get there. This lack of vision isn't an accident usually, it's actually a clever dodge your subconscious mind comes up with because it also means you can't fail. If there's no target to hit, you can't miss.
+
+But without a vision of what success if for you, you will never be successful. And that will haunt you and leave you feeling incomplete in vague, difficult to recognize ways. You have to define what success looks like *for you*, lest you always feel like you're failing -- whether or not you actually are.
+
+I submit that it is better to know you failed than to have no idea where you are.
+
+
+
+The thing to remember is that your definition of success will have to change and evolve. The dangerous thing is to coast. If you're coasting, you're not adapting, you're not changing and the only thing I can tell you is that nothing in life is static, everything is changing.
+
+
+, even if it's like my definition, which is somewhat nebulous: I want to keep doing those things that I want to do more of and less of those things that I want to do less of.
+
 The primary tools that one needs in modern day culture are to know how to make things up, and how to figure things out. This is creativity in two of its forms. These are called imagination and problem-solving. —STEVEN SNYDER
 
 Technology is a means to an end, not an end
@@ -210,16 +225,51 @@ People have forgotten how important the sun is. You can die from lack of sun.
 
 
 
+
+
 # Stories to Tell
 
 Every little withdrawal you can make, not only resists the system, but empowers you. Yes even tiny acts like paying cash to a person rather than swiping your implant at the self checkout screen.
 
-Someone stopped by the bus the other day to talk about it. I don't really recall what we said, probably started with the year, then the engine, then other stuff, then he said something someone else said to me once before: thanks for keeping it going.
+---
+
+## When In Doubt, Build Shelves
+
+If I had a motto it would probably be *when in doubt, build shelves*. Shelves are easy and satisfying to build. And when you're done your life is inevitably neater and more organized. I like for everything to have a place.
+
+I've been shelf building my whole life. When I don't have anything else to do, I build shelves. Or at least paint them. I used to repaint my bookshelves whenever I moved because after a move you never quite know what to do in your new space. The answer is to build shelves. I also tidy up a lot when I can't think what else to do, which inevitably makes me think, I should build a shelf there. 
+
+Despite the image many people have of me sitting in hammock doing nothing most of the time, it's not all that accurate. I mean, I try to get in the hammock as much as possible, but this summer I've built quite a few shelves. Shelves for books, shelves in the bathroom, shelves in the closet. Then I branched out and built a new towel rack. 
+
+Part of the shelf building was because I pulled the tailpipe out of the bus, all 28 feet of it came out in a single piece and got shipping off to Eau Claire where a machine shop is building us a new one. Slowly. That pretty much means I can't work on the engine. Well, I can't start it, which makes it hard to work on it and know the results.
+
+So shelves. 
+
+The rest of my family is not so enthralled with shelves though, so in between baseball games, JuiJitsu and wrestling practice, we managed to sneak in a trip to Little Girl's Point, which is one of the more popular agate hunting beaches in the area. 
+
+Not being a rockhound myself, I usually bring a notebook, stove, coffee pot and fixings, and sit on the beach, writing and relaxing. See, I do lounge around in a hammock occasionally, there's just nowhere to hang a hammock on this beach. 
+
+
+## Car Show Post
+
+Someone stopped by the bus the other day to talk about it. I don't really recall what we said, probably started with the year, then the engine, then repair in general. But as he was getting ready to go he said "thanks for keeping it going". I've heard that a couple times before in one form or another, that people are happy to know it's out there.
+
+I like that. I like that there are people who are just glad to know that things like the bus are still around in our world. I understand how they feel because I feel the same way. This evening I went to the grocery store in town and there was a 1960s Ford Bronco at the gas pump. I don't particularly like Broncos, I'll probably never own one, but I too am glad it's out there, still running. 
+
+Why be glad that someone else has an old car? It is a peculiar thing to think. It don't think it has anything to do with the car. It has to do with recognizing a kindred spirit in that person. In a culture that prizes the new and chucks the old without a thought, it's only a certain kind of person who appreciates the old, the time-tested, the well-worn. The things, the cars, the trucks, the buses, they're talismans perhaps, so we know each other when we see each other.
+
+It's not the thing though. The thing is irrelevant. *Thanks for keeping it going.* I've started saying this to people too. The it could be anything. It's the person that matters. It's their struggle to keep it going that matters. That person, all those people struggling to keep things working, maintaining them, repairing them, we share certain experiences and this is a bond.
+
+We know what it's like to bang our heads against a problem for weeks. We know the pain of seeing that white smoke coming out the valve cover vent. We understand the sense of victory when it starts up and purrs after hours of work. We know these things. 
+
+This is why I am always disappointed to meet people with classic cars who just take it to the mechanic. I know not everyone has the time or inclination to do it themselves, but I won't lie, I am always disappointed to hear it. The shared experience isn't there. They don't know. In some respects I do think perhaps you should have to earn it. 
 
-I like that. I like that there are people who are just glad to know that things like the bus are out there. I understand how they feel because I fee the same way. This evening I ran to the store and there was a 1960s Ford Bronco at the gas pump. I don't particularly like Broncos and I'd never own one, but I am glad it's out there. I don't know why I am glad. Maybe it's the connection to the past, maybe it's some kind of 
+It's the same with people who ask if we plan to paint it. We don't. I wouldn't if it were free. Every worn patch, every scrape, every dent and frayed bit of fiberglass has a story to it. I don't know all the stories, but I've spent a good bit of time thinking about what might have happened. I've made up some stories. I've added a few of my own. I won't erase any of them, even ones I don't know[^1]. 
 
 Making and fixing things with purpose. Extending the life of this thing is extending its potential to the world. Repair with purpose. 
 
+[^1]: If there were rust, or something that threatened the longevity of the bus, then I would patch and paint if necessary, but fortunately that's not a factor since the bus is two giant pieces of fiberglass.
+
 ## Parts of the Whole
 
 One of the interesting things about repairing engines is that they teach things about life more generally. Engines have taught me that while the parts might influence how the whole functions, all that really matters is the whole. If the whole isn't right, it doesn't matter how good the parts are.
@@ -308,6 +358,61 @@ https://www.vagabondjourney.com/you-cant-get-lost-anymore/
 
 # jrnl
 
+## Build
+
+*When in doubt, build shelves*. Building things is an essential part of life. Shelves are easy and satisfying to build. They're useful too. Everyone needs more shelf space. Everywhere I've ever lived I built some shelves or bookcase or some sort of flat surface on which to put thing. When you're done with a shelf your life is inevitably neater and more organized and better in some small way. 
+
+Social critic and priest Ivan Illich writes in *Tools for Convivality* that "people need... the freedom to make things among which they can live, or give shape to them according to their own tastes, and to put them to use in caring for and about others." 
+
+Maybe that seems like too much weight to put on something as simple as shelves, but I think it's important to have an active hand in shaping the world that surrounds you. It give that world more meaning. Shelves are an easy place to start. Get a single sturdy board, a couple angle brackets and you're on your way. Or you can get fancy if that's your taste, search out how to do a french cleat. Either way you have given shape to your things yourself.
+
+<img src="images/2023/2023-06-17_130839_washburn.jpg" id="image-3596" class="picwide" />
+
+I've been shelf building my whole life. When I don't have anything else to do, I build shelves. Or at least paint them. I used to repaint my bookshelves whenever I moved because after a move you never quite know what to do in your new space. The answer is to build shelves. I also tidy up a lot when I can't think what else to do, which inevitably makes me think, hmm, I should build a shelf. 
+
+Despite the image many people have of me sitting in hammock doing nothing most of the time, that's not all that accurate. I mean, I try to get in the hammock as much as possible, but this summer I've built quite a few shelves. Shelves for books, shelves in the bathroom, shelves in the closet. Then I branched out and built a new towel rack. I still have a few more shelves planned before we hit the road again.
+
+<img src="images/2023/2023-06-17_160323_washburn.jpg" id="image-3597" class="picwide caption" />
+
+I was building shelves in part because I couldn't work on the engine. I pulled the tailpipe out of the bus--all 28 feet of it. I it cut up into manageable pieces and sent off to Eau Claire where a machine shop is building us a new one. Slowly. That pretty much means I can't work on the engine. Well, I can't start it, which makes it hard to work on it and know the results. So shelves. 
+
+We stacked the summer up with activities for the kids. Well. For us anyway. We're not used to being in one place for so long so we went maybe a little overboard. There were baseball games, juijitsu and wrestling practice, sailing camp, theater camp, and what feels like an inordinate number of other activities. The kids have had fun though.
+
+We managed to do some exploring too. We made a day trip to Little Girl's Point, which is one of the more popular agate hunting beaches in the area. Not being a rockhound myself, I usually bring a notebook, stove, coffee pot and fixings, and sit on the beach, writing and relaxing. I do lounge around in a hammock occasionally, there's just nowhere to hang a hammock on this beach.
+
+<img src="images/2023/2023-06-08_115737_little-girl-point.jpg" id="image-3593" class="picwide" />
+
+<img src="images/2023/2023-06-08_134509_little-girl-point.jpg" id="image-3594" class="picwide" />
+<img src="images/2023/2023-07-13_105224_around-washburn.jpg" id="image-3602" class="picwide" />
+<img src="images/2023/2023-06-08_135922_little-girl-point.jpg" id="image-3595" class="picwide" />
+
+The girls turned 11 in July, though this year, thanks to a family visit just before their birthday, they managed to drag it out into something like a birthday week. On the actual day there was, of course, [waffle cake](https://luxagraf.net/essay/waffle-world).
+
+<img src="images/2023/2023-07-11_062305_11th-birthday.jpg" id="image-3600" class="picwide" />
+<img src="images/2023/2023-07-11_151007_11th-birthday.jpg" id="image-3601" class="picwide" />
+
+Quite a few people have reached out to see how the smoke was up here. Most of the time it really hasn't been that bad. There's been a general haze that I don't recall from last year, air quality is not what you'd call good, but for the most part it hasn't been as bad here as I've seen elsewhere except for a handful of days. There were a couple of days though where the sun looked like this at 11 AM and the world was preternatually dark.
+
+<img src="images/2023/2023-07-15_070855_around-washburn.jpg" id="image-3607" class="picwide" />
+
+To balance it out, there have also been days where it's so clear it seems like an easy swim over to Ashland.
+
+<img src="images/2023/2023-07-16_192240_around-washburn.jpg" id="image-3608" class="picwide" />
+
+The bad air didn't affect the cherries at least. The great lakes area is for some reason home to the best cherries I've ever had. Around here it's mostly red cherries, and they're very good, but if you ever make it over to the UP, keep an eye out for the golden cherries, which are slightly more sour and somehow better. The reds are damn good though and after reading Ralph Moody's *Little Birches* books, which involve some cherry picking, the kids had to try their hand.
+
+<img src="images/2023/2023-07-14_120512_cherry-picking.jpg" id="image-3603" class="picwide" />
+<div class="cluster">
+    <span class="row-2">
+<img src="images/2023/2023-07-14_123000_cherry-picking.jpg" id="image-3604" class="cluster pic66" />
+<img src="images/2023/2023-07-14_121845_cherry-picking.jpg" id="image-3605" class="cluster pic66" />
+    </span>
+</div>
+<img src="images/2023/2023-07-14_124113_cherry-picking.jpg" id="image-3606" class="picwide" />
+
+I believe we came home with 12 pounds in all. We gave away a few, but I'd say we ate at least 7 pounds in two days. 
+
+That's sort of the way summer goes up here, it's so short you have to cram a lot into it. On the one hand there's an element of gluttony to it, everything grows so fast and is gone before you know it, but on the other hand you can feel how valued and appreciated this time is. This is a land where winter is always either here, or just around the corner. Any time you don't need a jacket and skis to get outside is reason enough to celebrate.
 ## Second Spring
 
 Driving 1800 miles north in a week was like stepping back in time. Spring came and went in Florida back in early march. By the time we left Florida was well into summer, whatever the calendar might have said. Here in Washburn though spring had barely arrived.